Review: Queen of Shadows - Sarah J. Maas

Young Adult FantasyPublished September 1st 2015 by Bloomsbury USA Childrens

Source: Purchased

The queen has returned.

Everyone Celaena Sardothien loves has been taken from her. But she’s at last returned to the empire—for vengeance, to rescue her once-glorious kingdom, and to confront the shadows of her past…

She has embraced her identity as Aelin Galathynius, Queen of Terrasen. But before she can reclaim her throne, she must fight.

She will fight for her cousin, a warrior prepared to die for her. She will fight for her friend, a young man trapped in an unspeakable prison. And she will fight for her people, enslaved to a brutal king and awaiting their lost queen’s triumphant return.

The fourth volume in the New York Times bestselling series continues Celaena’s epic journey and builds to a passionate, agonizing crescendo that might just shatter her world.

This series is just so easy to become addicted to: It has it all. There's a great sweeping world with all the major players now coming into focus and being moved into position. There's amazing multi-faceted characters with real flaws and real depth. There's epic proportions of plots and intrigue and twists and turns.

Sarah J Maas does not hold back. Again there are characters stripped down to their bare essentials and we might not like what we see - even if it's someone you previously thought was darn near perfect. The signs are always there - but they're easy to overlook. There's decisions that are made that have you partially dying inside and there's small instances that have you questioning what might happen in the future. There's so many complex interactions and amazing friendships and there's plenty of character development and scheming, plenty of action and daring rescues. And above all - plenty of strong female characters to connect with and adore.

Personally I love all of the POVs that we get to see from these books and I love all the story lines and how they are slowly converging as we go along. I find the witches fascinating - brutal, horrifying and oh so dark, but they are FASCINATING. And Manon's journey is one that I am really truly enjoying.

The winds shifted, and Abraxos rode them, rising higher into the sky, the darkened kingdom below passing by in a blur.Changing winds—a changing world.Perhaps a changing Thirteen, too. And herself.She didn’t know what to make of it.But Manon hoped they’d all survive it.She hoped.

There's a definite growth to this series - Maas' writing, the intricate plot, the incredible world, the characters themselves and the fact that these books get a little darker and nastier and a little bloodier every instalment that I read - I love it.

If you enjoyed Heir of Fire I think you are going to adore Queen of Shadows. If you can't hack the direction that these books are taking then I think you should probably leave the series right here, right now.

It saddens me to see people giving this series low ratings because their ships are sunk or because they don't like a direction their favourite character has gone in. GET OVER IT PEOPLE. In real life, people change, people grow. Not everyone has a HEA - but it is real. Sure, it might seem like the most ideal situation if the very first person you ever fall in love with is your perfect match - the one you will spend the rest of your life with, but how often does that actually happen? Why can't these same principles apply in an epic fantasy book? These characters are undergoing incredible stressors, faced with decisions that affect their entire world and you don't think that should change them? Make them develop into something else? Sometimes when people are tested - they don't pass with flying colours.

Sarah J. Maas just knows how to tug on my heartstrings. I feel ALL the feels. Heck, I even find myself rooting for characters I never knew I loved.

There's so much plot and action that romance is not at the centre of this epic tale, but there's still plenty of swoons to be had.

"She would find that love again—one day. And it would be deep and unrelenting and unexpected, the beginning and the end and eternity, the kind that could change history, change the world."

“You make me want to live, Rowan. Not survive; not exist. Live.”

I don't even know how to sum up this review other than reiterating what a literary master Sarah J. Maas is. Just try the series out - it may not be for you but you really deserve the chance to love it as much as I do.